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Objectives: There is currently no consensus regarding the use of intravenous fluid therapy in feline patients post‐blood donation in veterinary medicine. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether blood donation can be performed safely without post‐donation intravenous fluid therapy. The secondary aim was to report owner‐noted post‐donation changes. Materials and Methods: The study aimed to enrol 100 conscious feline blood donations by client‐owned cats performed at a veterinary teaching hospital. Donors were randomised to either receive intravenous compound sodium lactate (twice the volume of blood donated over 2 hours) immediately after blood donation, or to receive no post‐blood donation intravenous fluid therapy. Systolic blood pressure was measured non‐invasively at 0, 60 and 120 minutes post‐donation. Median blood pressures were compared between the two groups using a Shapiro‐Wilk test. Owners were called the day following the donation to collect information on changes in their cat post‐donation. Results: One hundred cats were enrolled and the data of 97 cats were analysed; 46 who received intravenous fluid therapy and 51 who did not. Mean donation volume was 9.95 mL/kg for the intravenous fluid therapy group and 9.72 mL/kg for the non‐intravenous fluid therapy group. At each time point, the median blood pressure did not differ significantly between the two groups. The main reported changes in both goups were bruising at the venepuncture site with 27.3% (12/44) in the IVFT group and 23.4% (9/37) in the no‐IVFT group, and mild lethargy up to a maximum of 24 hours post donation with 11.4% (5/44) in the IVFT group and 18.9% (7/37) in the no‐IVFT group. Clinical Significance: This study suggests that the use of intravenous fluid therapy post‐feline blood donation may not be necessary. This could mean reduced hospitalisation time for feline donors, possibly decreasing feline stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the rate of accidental placement of nasoenteric tubes into the respiratory tract. To compare the methods of checking correct tube placement. To compare the complication rates between nasoesophageal and nasogastric tubes. Materials and Methods: Animals requiring nasoenteric feeding tubes were prospectively randomised to have either nasoesophageal or nasogastric tube placement. Various techniques for assessing tube position were compared with thoracic radiographic findings. Complications during placement and use were recorded. Results: Ninety‐seven animals (82 dogs and 15 cats) were studied. The tube was misplaced into the respiratory tract in three (3.1%) cases. No technique for checking placement was completely concordant with radiography but the presence of negative pressure at the thoracic inlet during placement was consistent with the presence of the tube in the oesophagus in 86.2% cases, while capnography can be considered to confirm tracheal placement. The overall rate of complications during tube placement was 25.8%, with mostly minor clinical complications reported. There was no significant difference in the new‐onset regurgitation/vomiting rate, or complications while the tube was in situ between the nasoesophageal and nasogastric groups. Clinical Significance: Misplacement of nasoenteric tubes is uncommon but a consistent alternative test to radiography for checking correct nasoenteric tube placement was not demonstrated. The choice of placement of either a nasoesophageal or nasogastric tube should be guided by clinician preference, and clients should be warned about possible complications during placement and while the nasoenteric tube is in situ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe the conservative management and outcome of gastrointestinal metallic sharp‐pointed straight foreign bodies in dogs and cats. Materials and Methods: Clinical records of dogs and cats presented to a university teaching hospital between 2003 and 2021 with gastrointestinal metallic sharp‐pointed straight foreign bodies (e.g. needles, pins, nails) were reviewed. Conservative management was defined as leaving the foreign body in situ. Cases were excluded if the foreign body was identified outside of the gastrointestinal tract (including oropharynx and oesophagus) or if it was removed by endoscopy or surgery as the first treatment choice. Patient signalment, presenting complaint, foreign body location, treatment, complications, gastrointestinal transit time, length of hospitalisation and outcome were recorded. Results: A total of 17 cases (13 dogs and four cats) were included in the study, being treated with primary conservative therapeutic approach (11) or following failure of endoscopy (two), surgery (three) or both (one). Clinical signs associated with the foreign body were reported in three (17.6%) cases. Conservative management was successful in 15 (88.2%) cases, with no complications reported. Patients were clinically and radiographically monitored with variable supportive care. In two (11.8%) cases, surgery was subsequently performed as the foreign body failed to progress on repeated radiographs after 24 hours. Mean foreign body gastrointestinal transit time for patients treated conservatively was 59.2 (±31.4) hours. All patients survived to discharge. Clinical Significance: Conservative management is a treatment option for clinically stable cats and dogs with metallic sharp‐pointed straight gastrointestinal foreign bodies in the absence of perforation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the causative organisms, clinical features and outcome of canine infective endocarditis in the UK. Materials and Methods: Medical records of three veterinary referral hospitals were searched for dogs with infective endocarditis between December 2009 and December 2019. Signalment, clinical signs, causative organism, valve affected, treatment and survival data were recorded. Results: Seventy‐seven cases with possible or definite infective endocarditis (according to the modified Duke criteria) were included. The majority were large breed (40/77 – 51.9%). There were 47 of 77 (61%) male dogs and the mean age was 7.3 ±3 years. A causative organism was identified in 26 of 77 (33.8%) cases. The most common organisms were Escherichia coli (7/27 – 25.9%), Pasteurella spp. (5/27 – 18.5%), Staphylococcus spp. (4/27 – 14.8%) and Corynebacterium spp. (4/27 – 14.8%). Bartonella spp. were not detected in any patients. The mitral valve was most commonly affected (48/77 – 62.3%). Clinical features were non‐specific, with lethargy being the most common clinical sign observed (53/77 – 68.8%). Fifty‐three dogs (68.8%) survived to discharge. The median survival time post discharge was 425 days (2 to 3650 days). The development of congestive heart failure was associated with a poorer outcome. Cardiac troponin concentration, antithrombotic use and the development of thromboembolism or arrhythmias were not significantly associated with outcome. Clinical Significance: Some dogs with infective endocarditis that survive to discharge can have a long lifespan. The inability to detect an underlying organism is common and Bartonella spp. may be a less prevalent cause of canine infective endocarditis in the UK than in the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To describe the use of a xenotransfusion protocol, the outcome of xenotransfusion in recipient cats and to assess owner memory of the xenotransfusion. Materials and Methods: Cats administered xenotransfusions in two hospitals between January 2016 and July 2018 were included. Adherence to xenotransfusion protocol, cause of anaemia, blood type, packed cell volume (PCV), transfusion volume, transfusion reactions, PCV 12 hours after transfusion and survival to discharge were recorded. Owners of surviving cats were questioned to assess if they remembered that a xenotransfusion had been performed. Results: Forty‐nine cats underwent the xenotransfusion protocol. The most common causes of anaemia were surgical blood loss (n = 17), immune‐mediated haemolytic anaemia (n = 14) and neoplasia (n = 14). Median PCV before transfusion was 10%. Six cats (12%) had febrile non‐haemolytic transfusion reactions. Median PCV 12 hours after transfusion was 25%. Ten cats (20%) died or were euthanased within 24 hours of xenotransfusion. A delayed haemolytic transfusion reaction occurred in 25 of 39 (64%) cats manifesting as icterus in 15 cats after a median of 1.9 days and haemolytic serum in 19 cats after a median of 2 days. Of the 18 cats alive at 1 week after discharge, 15 (83%) were still alive at a median of 173 days after xenotransfusion. All owners contacted remembered that their cats had received a xenotransfusion. Clinical Significance: Xenotransfusion of canine packed red blood cells to cats is possible but haemolysis should be expected between 1 and 6 days after transfusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Pleural effusion is a common cause of dyspnea in cats. N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide ( NT-pro BNP) measurement, using a first-generation quantitative ELISA, in plasma and pleural fluid differentiates cardiac from noncardiac causes of pleural effusion. Hypothesis/Objectives To determine whether NT-pro BNP measurements using second-generation quantitative ELISA and point-of-care ( POC) tests in plasma and pleural fluid distinguish cardiac from noncardiac pleural effusions and how results compare to the first-generation ELISA. Animals Thirty-eight cats ( US cohort) and 40 cats ( UK cohort) presenting with cardiogenic or noncardiogenic pleural effusion. Methods Prospective cohort study. Twenty-one and 17 cats in the US cohort, and 22 and 18 cats in the UK cohort were classified as having cardiac or noncardiac pleural effusion, respectively. NT-proBNP concentrations in paired plasma and pleural fluid samples were measured using second-generation ELISA and POC assays. Results The second-generation ELISA differentiated cardiac from noncardiac pleural effusion with good diagnostic accuracy (plasma: sensitivity, 95.2%, specificity, 82.4%; pleural fluid: sensitivity, 100%, specificity, 76.5%). NT-proBNP concentrations were greater in pleural fluid (719 pmol/L (134-1500)) than plasma (678 pmol/L (61-1500), P = 0.003), resulting in different cut-off values depending on the sample type. The POC test had good sensitivity (95.2%) and specificity (87.5%) when using plasma samples. In pleural fluid samples, the POC test had good sensitivity (100%) but low specificity (64.7%). Diagnostic accuracy was similar between first- and second-generation ELISA assays. Conclusions and clinical importance Measurement of NT-pro BNP using a quantitative ELISA in plasma and pleural fluid or POC test in plasma, but not pleural fluid, distinguishes cardiac from noncardiac causes of pleural effusion in cats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is one of the most common congenital cardiac abnormalities in the dog. Sodium nitroprusside has been proposed as an infusion during PDA ligation as the resultant nitric oxide production causes hypotension thereby facilitating surgical dissection and decreasing the risk of haemorrhage. This case report details how the method described did not decrease blood pressure and therefore had no beneficial effects. It is speculated that the lack of response may have been due to tachyphylaxis. Other drugs may be preferred to induce deliberate hypotension in the dog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]